Twin Circuit
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: They had to survive by themselves and so they did, with each other, their decks and the money they earned. And it was alright at first, like a roller coaster - but like all roller coasters, after a bit they lost the thrill that cushioned them, and then it was all reality.
1. The warmth that our hearts share

**A/N:** This fic is manga-verse, because the different backstories for most of the characters is really fascinating. :D I wish I could find it somewhere to read, but in the meantime I'll make do with the WIkia summaries. This collection of ficlets are centred on Luna and Leo's history in the manga, up until the point they get their dragons. I don't think you need to be familiar with the manga; I'm covering their history anyway and this is pre-season. :D

It's also written for the Dicing Up Songs Challenge on the Yugioh 5D's Challenge Forum (the link's in my profile for anyone interested!), using the song _Ruminasu_ from Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Each line will be the prompt for a chapter, going in chronological order to eventually spell out the whole song. This song has 36 lines, so the fic will be 36 chapters.

And here's the first of them. Enjoy.

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**Twin Circuit  
1. The warmth that our hearts share**

They've got each other, their decks, and a means to get money to run the house and fill their stomachs and that's all they need. It doesn't matter that they're young. It doesn't matter that they lack experience. They're a better combination than any man with their loneliness, and they show it well.

Their bike is small and has four wheels instead of two: it looks more like a cart. But they can't ride anything bigger: they're too small, too new at these sorts of duels. It's not a Duel Runner, but they manage with it: it's the cart they used to play with when they were small, when they still had their parents. It's not an innocent little cart anymore; they fixed it up, replaced the toy motor with a real one and the thin wheels with proper ones, both from the car. After all, they can't use the car for anything except some cash, and that wouldn't last forever.

Their first duel is a scary one, but easily won. Leo takes the wheel as he always used to, Luna sitting behind him for support. She's the voice of reason for him: the one who steers him back onto path when he goes off, and he's the knight who cuts through the enemies and carries them both to the finish line.

She gives him his cards and they win together, sharing their playing deck, their hand, their strategy. And the ridiculing laughter when they first appeared on the underground duelling track is replaced by admiration as they take their first of many victory laps.

Leo's heart is pounding as he finally lets go of the steering wheel. It's still the old one, and the cart's been pushed past its limits and is a little creaky, but it survived their first battle. And Luna takes their prize because he's still shell-shocked in his seat, and she's better at staring down adults anyway. Because the guy's a sore loser and doesn't want to pay a bet to a couple of kids, but Luna's firm and rules are rules and they drive away together with their first winnings.

It looks like a fortune too, though they will come to learn the value of money in later times and duels. But, for now, the only thing that matters to the two of them is that they're safe and they've got some cash to fill the almost empty cupboards up and still have a bit left over. The first bill hasn't come yet, so they don't think about that; they think about their cart instead, with its cracking frame and a wheel Leo's had to grip too hard to control. They think about how cutthroat the world they've entered is, and how they'll go on with it, and it'll give them everything they need to live off. They think how they don't need relatives that have cut them off, or stupid laws that won't let them touch their inheritance until they're eighteen.

And they think of the thrill of their little rollercoaster ride and think they can do this forever, together. Because Luna's there to keep Leo calm, to make sure they don't go too far and crash, and Leo's there too, to make sure nothing can happen to Luna, because he'll protect her.


	2. We walked quietly carrying it importantl

**A/N:** Second ficlet, mixing in a little anime verse because I don't think the manga mentions what happened to their parents. :D Enjoy.

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**Twin Circuit  
2. We walked quietly carrying it importantly**

Their classmates seemed to have a glorified image of their situation. Maybe because they were all a little too young to know death. Luna and Leo were too young as well, but that didn't stop them from losing their parents. That did stop them from fully understanding the gravity of the situation at first though. Their parents were barely home anyway, and the only thing that changed were those sparse visits and the money that ran the house.

It took months for the true absence to settle in, and by then the problem of money and self-sustainability had been encountered and solved. They duelled at least three times a week, sometimes more when an easy opponent came their way. They were careful; they analysed their opponents and their moves and never lost. And they made a fortune through the underground that let them live the way they'd lived before.

All that was missing afterwards were their parents calling once a fortnight, or coming home for a day or two every three months or so. They could even afford a housekeeper again – and they made sure to keep it that way because there were some things they didn't know about running a house. They'd never had to learn to do the more complex chores: things like washing the clothes, maintaining the gardens, cooking something more complicated than instant ramen. The housekeeper would always do those things, and after fixing up their cart and making it more durable, they caved and hired one. Not their old one: she knew about their relatives cutting them out, their lack of outside support. She'd have asked too many questions.

The new one didn't know and didn't care; it was a job, and the pay was money she'd use to feed her own money. It was a simple exchange like that, and it meant no more disastrous attempts at doing chores themselves. Neither of them had tried the stove, but the housekeeper had to hand wash the clothes for a few weeks before the twins' duelling collected enough money to fix the washing machine. As for the yard…it took them a while longer to hire another gardener too.

And once the house was normal again and their three duels a week were earning them as much as the stipend their parents used to send (minus whatever extra they got for personal allowances, presents and requests for something or other), the absence of their parents settled in a little. Because things had quietened down; it wasn't the mad scramble to put the pieces of the puzzle perfectly together anymore. It was a silence that screamed a little louder than it used to, a silence they'd be hearing forever more.

Maybe, maybe they'd still been expecting that their parents would pop up every now and then still. Maybe they'd been clinging to that innocent desire, or hoping – but there was no phone call, no doorbell rung. Just the housekeeper taking care of chores and the gardener the yard and them their school and duelling.

The other kids thought their parents being hardly ever home meant they could do whatever they wanted. They thought their parents being dead meant the rest of the relatives would shower them with love and affection, and they could do everything, have everything –

But they could do everything. They had their house still, and now they had an income as well. And they could afford to manage it, with a few sacrifices that others their age didn't understand. Like why they couldn't buy the newest game, or why they didn't have time to hang out at the mall anymore. Why they didn't have the time or resources to muck around with their lives.

They'd had to grow up a little, so they didn't have time to waste like little kids did. They couldn't play around. The underground track was less frightening now, but no less dangerous. The real world, when you didn't have the means to get through it, wasn't much better.

But, at the same time, it wasn't too different to what they'd been doing. The only new issues were money and a permanent absence of their family: they had each other for the latter and duelling for the other.


End file.
